A chilling contemporary thriller from Robert Harris set in the competitive world of high finance. Dr Max Hoffman is a legend. A physicist once employed on the Large Hadron Collider, he now uses a revolutionary and highly secret system of computer algorithms to trade on the worlds financial markets. None of his rivals is sure how he does it, but somehow Hoffmans hedge fund - built around the standard measure of market volatility: the VIX or "Fear Index" - generates astonishing returns for his investors. Late one night, in his house beside Lake Geneva, an intruder disturbs Hoffman and his wife while they are asleep. This terrifying moment is the start of Robert Harriss new novel - a story just